Giles makes a grand entrance in act 3 by storming into the court in the middle of the argument between harthorne and Martha roaring "I have evidence for the court!"
This is a very dramatic effect that would immediately bring a sense of excitement to the audience and accelerate the pace.
.We clearly see that Giles is enraged and determined and fully focused on getting his wife back because we can see it in his 'roaring' and the aggression that's inside him and also because of the use of the exclamation mark 'They'll be hangin' my wife!' So it would of shocked the audience when he suddenly broke down into tears and started pleading with Judge Danforte, this shows very strong emotions and would automatically make the audience feel sympathy for him and a sense of injustice. Francis realises Giles outburst has only caused more conflict between them and the judge and makes a more suttle entrance behaving more respectful explaining the stuation calmly and politely “ We are desperate sir we come three days and cannot be heard”
The entrance of Proctor shocks the audience as he has Mary Warren by the arm who the audience had believe to be sick and the room would be full of suspense to wether Mary Warren holds to the key to the proof that the girls are frauds.
To establish his position Danforth always spoke with a strong voice of authority during the case in the court. This is clearly exhibited by the following lines spoken by him while he was addressing Francis; ”Peace. Judge Hathorne. Do you know who I am, Mr Nurse?”.
By the lines ”And do you know that near to four hundred are in the jails from Marblehead to Lynn, and upon my signature?”, he was trying to create psychological fear onto the people he was dealing with. These lines also exhibit another side of his character of arrogance and power consciousness. He felt that he could do anything using his power.
If anyone says anything is his eyes potentially threatening to both the power of the court and integrity of the law, he questions them at once.
This is obvious in the lines he says to Mary, “ I will tell you this – you are either lying now, or you were lying in the court, and in either case you have committed perjury and you will go to jail for it. You cannot lightly say you lied, Mary. Do you know that?”.
I think that the audience mostly feel sympathy for Mary Warren because she is so easily intimidated by others such as Abigail and Danforth. We can see this clearly when Danforth persistently asked “has he threatened you?”
which he asked so many times deliberately to weaken her. The audience realise that Danforth did not persist to ask Abigail or the other girls in the same aggressive tone and so would fell a sense of injustice. The audience will also feel empathy, as Mary is doing the right thing in no longer participating in Abigail’s scheming and yet she is making things worse for herself. This is displayed when Abigail and the girls turned against her pretending that Mary had set a spirit onto them. Such emotional bullying caused Mary’s confidence to disintegrate until she could no longer take it and realised she “has no power” and felt she had no other choice but to claim that John Proctor had been involved in withcraft
Abigail’s actions raised the drama, as she causes so much corruption and yet manages to get away with everything, while others are persecuted for doing nothing.
This is mainly due to her manipulative behaviour as first witnessed in act 1. Claiming that Tituba had sent her spirit causing Abigial to “find herslf………………………………………………………………………………
By using her sexuality Abigail knew that the men of the play would get an instant image of her which would soften their suspicion.
When Proctor tries to explain to the court that Abigail is misleading them all, the tension is high as the audience are full of suspense to wether the court will finally see Abigail’s true colours, but just as it looks like Proctor had succeeded Abigail unleashes her strongest weapon. She begins to act as though she is afflicted, making herself the centre of attention as usual and is quickly followed by the other girls.
Her accusing eyes roam until setting on Mary Warren. Mary tries to fight Abigail but the favour of the room is quickly slipping away from her as Abigail-taking lead starts to pretend Mary Warren is sending out a spirit and before you know it Mary Warren has given in to a dominating Abigail.
John’s admission of adultery showed a lot of strong emotion as he felt so angry and frustrated that everyone was blind to Abigail’s evil ways. So much so that when Abigila puts on an act saying “heavenly father….
Proctor has had enough and looses his temper and shouts
This was his last attempt to convince the court, he sacrificed his good name so that justice could be served, this showed a lot of desperation.
As soon as Elizabeth enters the court she is forced to stand back to back against John, miller has used this dramatic effect as the audience would be full of suspense to whether Elizabeth will lie or speak the truth and save herself and John or for the first time in her life tell a lie which could end her husband’s life. It is impossible to knw what John has said as by standing back to back she cannot communicate with John.Danforth repeatedly asks agressively, "For what cause did you dismiss her?" and Elizabeth seems to become quite nervous, obviously realising that if she does tell the court the real reason her husband would lose all of his respect, and as we found out earlier, she finds it very difficult to admit to the fact that her husband did indeed have an affair. In the stage directions, it says that Elizabeth is beginning to sense a situation arising and so she is, "(Wetting her lips to stall for time)". This gives us the indication that she has become very worried and doesn't really know what to do or say, so she tries to give herself some time to think. Only a couple of lines later she stutters and stalls in mid-sentence saying, "She were -," to try and buy herself some time. Every time Elizabeth pauses more tension would rise, as nobody in the court or the audience would be sure what she would say next. As Danforth persists to ask Elizabeth “did he indeed turn from you.” Elizabeth- thinking of preotecting her husband, denies the accusations that he had been commiting adultery. This leaves the audience gobsmaked as it was the last hope of showing the court that Abigial is not as innocent as she seems.
Miller showed just how much power Abigail has over people in act 3 by how easily she could turn Mary from good to evil. The audience would have felt anger and disappointment in Mary
In his final words in court Proctor describes the principles of a salem cout by shouting in rage; ”God is dead.” This would have shocked the people of the court as they would have misinterpreted his words and think only someone with the devil inside them could speak these words, hence why he was immediately arrested. However the audience know that the real interpreatation of his words is that the court no longer has belief in God but instead belief in Abigail and the girls. They no longer see the goodness in people but instead only the evil.
By the end of act 3 the audience would feel disappointed that in a holy village such as Salem, so many people could be fooled by the games of one manipulative girl and loose all faith in God and the goodness of people they have known for years.
Not only would they feel disappointed in the salem court system. But also in certain individuals, such as Mary Warren. If Mary Warren would have stood her ground and listened to her conscience rather than to Abigail and the girls, then perhaps there would be more evidence against them and therefore more chance of proving the court that they are frauds.
